absence makes the heart grow fonder
by Limmykins123
Summary: they were always meant to be together, it was only a matter of time . sasusaku.
1. Chapter 1

Sasuke walked through the gates of Konoha on a chilly winter day in the midst of January.

Snow was falling as the masses gathered round to welcome him back. People were clamoring to catch a glimpse of the infamous war hero. Children eagerly pulled their parents along, hoping to see him before the weather became any worse. Naruto came soon after and pushed to the front of the crowd; he skillfully guided Sasuke along the throngs of people and through the streets.

Sasuke gave small nods to the strangers surrounding him. The number of people, the way they were shouting his name and the warm smiles shot his way made his heart constrict in a way he had no words for. Sasuke thought they would have forgotten about him from the day he left the village two years ago. He needed to find himself and make amends to the world; he had been content with fading into the background. With the reaction he was receiving, Sasuke wasn't so sure he would be able to blend in anymore. His thoughts shifted to the people he had left behind, with one person in particular.

Looking back into the crowd, Sasuke couldn't help but notice the lack of pink.

* * *

Sakura felt as if she was on the verge of losing her mind.

She had spent the last week and a half holed up in her tiny apartment. Take out containers were piled up in the corner and medical journals were strewn across the floor. Dishes were piled up in the sink, threatening to tip over. Her laundry basket was filled to the brim and emitting a foul odor. Just like her apartment, Sakura was a mess.

Sakura had requested to work from home for an indefinite period ever since she heard that _he_ had come back. She didn't know if she could handle seeing him back in Konoha.

It had been different on the battlefield. There, they were all high on adrenaline and weren't thinking of anything besides winning the war. They did not have time to talk about how twisted Sasuke had been, or how Sakura had grown without him, or how _his hand felt around her throat-_

She shuddered and stopped her train of thought. She knew that they had to talk about things. So much had happened between them; she could not move on without some sort of closure. Despite knowing this, Sasuke was the last person she wanted to see. With Sasuke not around, he consumed most of her thoughts. Sakura envisioned what his return would be like, and played out scenarios in her head in which he never went mad or sought revenge. She imagined conversations with him about his travels; she wondered how he was doing almost all the time. It was about five months into his absence when Sakura realized she was still in love with him, and always would be.

It was almost funny to her that when he actually came back, she couldn't bring herself to see him.

She didn't want to have the conversations she knew were inevitable. Sakura almost wanted to forget how close he had been to killing her, or the she had ever loved him; she wished she could purge him from her mind.

* * *

"Where is she?"

Tsunade turned her head up from her paperwork to see Sasuke standing before her. She smirked. _'It's about time,'_ she thought to herself.

"She's at her apartment. She requested to work from home for a little while," Tsunade responded, looking at Sasuke to gauge his reaction. He shifted his feet and stayed quiet for a few moments before looking to Tsunade again. His eyes shone with determination.

"What's the address?"

* * *

Close to midnight, Sakura heard three quiet knocks at her door. She pondered who it could be as she got up from her desk.

It couldn't be Ino or Naruto, as the two would have barged in or gone through the window. Tsunade never bothered coming to her apartment unless there was sake, and Shizune was in Cloud gathering medicinal herbs. She started shaking when she realized there was only one person left who would come to her apartment like this. He was here, and there was no going back.

Sakura walked towards the door. With her hands shaking, she turned the knob and opened the door a crack, just enough to see his face. A lone purple eye stared back at her.

"Sakura."

"Sasuke."

She opened the door wider and allowed him in.

* * *

this is gonna be a two-shot, so be on the lookout for the next chapter! :-)


	2. Chapter 2

Sasuke walked into the apartment, careful not to step onto any of Sakura's textbooks that were laid across the floor. He made his way to the couch and sat down. Sakura looked at him warily. Not yet ready to talk to him, she walked into the kitchen to make them some refreshments.

"Do you want tea or coffee?" she asked as she took two cups out of the drawer.

"Tea is fine."

Sakura lowered the tea bags into the mugs; she watched as the steam wafted up into the air. After waiting a couple moments, she took the bags out and put a few lemon slices in their place. She walked into the living room and put the mug down in front of Sasuke, then sat across from him.

* * *

For a half-hour, there was nothing but pure silence.

Sakura kept stealing glances at Sasuke under her lashes, too nervous to make full-on eye contact. She shifted every few moments in her seat, feeling the tension grow each passing moment.

Sasuke kept his eyes at his feet. He just didn't know where to start. So much had happened in the last three years between them. From his initial leave to their battle at the bridge to the war, Sasuke and Sakura had experienced a spectrum of emotions and feelings. It was odd, Sasuke thought, that this was the first time they were _really_ talking since they were genin.

"Sakura."

Her eyes whipped upwards and he knew it was now or never.

"I'm not the same," he slowly began, "as I was back then. I was fucked up Sakura."

"I... I wanted to hurt Itachi so bad. I wanted him to suffer. I didn't care who I hurt in the process. I realized only after his death how wrong I was. That time at the bridge, I was so blinded by hatred that I didn't realize what I was doing. To know I hurt the only person that ever loved me..."

The last sentence was spoken so quietly Sakura almost missed it. His melancholy tone broke her heart; she hadn't realized that what had transpired between them effected equally as hard. She looked back up into his mismatched eyes.

Sasuke took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," he bit out.

Sakura immediately felt tears welling up in her eyes. His omission brought back all the memories she had been trying so hard to forget, but the one at the forefront of her mind was when he left her on that cold, cold bench. The two words he had spoken just now had the same honesty, the same _feeling_ as the two words he had told her all those years ago.

She had always known Sasuke was not a man of words. Since they were young, Sasuke preferred to act with his body rather than his mouth. For him to apologize meant more to her than he would ever know.

After a few moments, Sakura slowly rose from her spot and moved to sit next to Sasuke. She put her hand on his and gave a light squeeze.

"I know," she whispered.

Sakura could have sworn she saw a tear slip down from his eyes too.

* * *

Sasuke drifted off to sleep soon after. Sakura slowly shifted his head off her shoulder and put a pillow in its place. As she went in her bedroom to grab him a blanket, Sakura looked back at his sleeping form. A warm feeling enveloped her body and she smiled. She had missed him.


End file.
